Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an air conditioner for a vehicle and a method for manufacturing a blower unit of the same, and more particularly, to an air conditioner for a vehicle, which includes a blower unit for blowing indoor air or outdoor air to the inside of the air conditioner, and a method for manufacturing a blower unit of the same.
Background Art
An air conditioner for a vehicle is an apparatus for cooling or heating the interior of the vehicle by cooling or heating through the process of introducing outdoor air into the interior of the vehicle or circulating indoor air of the vehicle. Such an air conditioner for a vehicle includes: a blower unit for sending indoor air or outdoor air to the inside of an air-conditioning case; an evaporator disposed inside the air-conditioning case in order to cool the inside of the air-conditioning case; and a heater core for heating the inside of the air-conditioning case, and selectively send the air cooled by the evaporator or heated by the heater core toward components of the interior of the vehicle.
FIG. 1 is a sectional view showing the inside of a conventional air conditioner for a vehicle. As shown in FIG. 1, the conventional air conditioner 1 for a vehicle includes a blower unit 10 and an air-conditioning unit 40. The blower unit includes a blower case 12, an indoor air and outdoor air converting door 15 and a blower wheel 16. The blower case 12 has indoor and outdoor air inlets 11 and 12 formed at an upper side thereof, and the indoor air and outdoor air converting door 15 is mounted to selectively open and close the indoor and outdoor air inlets 11 and 12. The blower 16 sends the indoor air and the outdoor air introduced through the indoor and outdoor air inlets 11 and 12 toward an air-conditioning case 49 by force.
The indoor air inlet 11 and the outdoor air inlet 12 are respectively formed at both sides of the upper side of the blower unit 10, and the blower unit 10 includes an intake unit having the indoor air and outdoor air converting door 15 which selectively opens and closes the indoor and outdoor air inlets 11 and 12 while rotating the indoor air inlet 11 and the outdoor air inlet 12.
The blower unit 10 includes: a blower motor 17 which is mounted inside the blower case 19 to blow axial air introduced from the indoor air inlet 11 or the outdoor air inlet 12 in a radial direction; and a blower wheel 16 which is joined to a rotary shaft of the blower motor 17. Moreover, the blower unit further includes an air filter 18 which is mounted at the upstream side of the blower motor 17 in an air flow direction in order to purify the introduced air.
The air-conditioning unit 40 includes an air-conditioning case 49, an evaporator 41 and a heater core 42. The air-conditioning case 49 has an air inflow port 43 which is formed at an entrance to induce the air blown from the blower unit 10 and a plurality of air outflow ports 44 which are formed at an exit to be opened and closed by mode doors 46. The evaporator 41 and the heater core 42 are mounted to be spaced apart from each other at a predetermined interval in order. A temperature-adjusting door 45 is mounted between the evaporator 41 and the heater core 42 to control temperature by adjusting an amount of mixture that cold air passing the evaporator 41 and warm air passing the heater core 42 are mixed together.
FIG. 2 is a front view of a conventional air blower. Referring to FIG. 2, the air blower 10 includes a blower wheel 16 which is connected to a rotary shaft of a blower motor 17 and is rotated to supply air to the inside of an air conditioner, and a blower control unit 50 which is disposed in a blower case 12 to control the stage of the blower. The blower control unit 50 controls voltage applied to the blower motor 17 through a user's manipulation of an air-conditioning controller or by automatic setting in order to control the stage of the blower.
That is, the blower motor 17 converts direct current electrical energy into rotational kinetic energy to generate a flow of air through rotation of the blower wheel. Furthermore, the blower control unit 50 includes a register, a field effect transistor (FET) which synthetically judges indoor and outdoor cooling and heating loads by various sensors to control the optimum rotational speed of the blower motor, and a pulse width modulator (PWM) for controlling the whole average voltage using the pulse width of a control signal.
However, conventional air conditioners have difficulty in creating a layout of components due to a small space of the blower unit because an ionizer, a motor, a control unit and so on must be mounted in the limited space. Furthermore, the conventional blower control unit has several disadvantages in that there is voltage drop at a wiring part and a part where a connector is connected and the number of holes for assembling various components to the blower unit and the number of holes for connecting wiring connectors are increased because the blower control unit is mounted at one side of the blower case, apart from the blower unit.